A group of Bay Area tech and investment luminaries Wednesday announced a multimillion-dollar competition for researchers to develop cures for the world's toughest diseases and solve the life sciences' most complicated problems.

At a gathering in San Francisco, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg sat alongside Art Levinson, chairman of both Apple and Genentech; Anne Wojcicki, co-founder of genetic mapping startup 23andMe; and investment guru Yuri Milner to announce the new $3 million Life Sciences Breakthrough Prize and name the effort's first 11 winners.

Zuckerberg said he hopes that the tech industry, since it can't always participate in finding cures, will at least enable researchers and scientists to solve those complicated problems. But he added, while the list of winners named Wednesday includes mostly established minds in research, the new prize is really focused on the scientists of tomorrow.

"A lot of this is about the next generation of folks, college students and grad students in labs," he said. "Hopefully we can create something that will make them want to (take chances and find cures). I hope what we've done can serve as that platform. And others will create other prizes to serve other philanthropic efforts."

Wojcicki, wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, echoed Zuckerberg's sentiments. "I hope this inspires people," she said, speaking to a room full of researchers. "It's incredibly important, the work that you're doing. ... Here's to the superheroes."

Spurring innovation

Increasingly the public, private and nonprofit sectors have looked to prizes to spur innovation. The X Prize Foundation spurs "revolution through competition" by offering large cash sums, up to $10 million, for innovations in such fields as molecular biology, energy and space travel. The group's board consists of tech giants such as Google CEO Larry Page and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Wojcicki and Brin are listed as part of X Prize's "Vision Circle," a group of ambassadors and advisers.

Such prize-based competitions are not completely philanthropic. Having contact with engaged innovators allows investors to keep a closer eye on a wider range of inventions and breakthroughs in case they decide to approach the researchers about funding a business.

Levinson will serve as chairman of the Life Sciences Breakthrough Prize foundation, while Wojcicki, Zuckerberg and Milner will be members of its board. Levinson spoke to why tech leaders would be involved in such philanthropy.

"People in technology are naturally inquisitive," Levinson said. But he also pointed out that those in tech also understand the need for financing to accomplish big dreams, especially in the face of big risks. "Above and beyond having the resources, they understand the connection."

The announcement

The first 11 winners of the Breakthrough Prize were announced in the towering atrium at UCSF's Genentech Hall on its Mission Bay campus. They included researchers in neurology, polymorphisms in DNA, cancer metabolism, stem cells and gene therapy.

All prize winners will be added to the selection committee for future Breakthrough Prizes. Going forward, there will be five winners each year. The Breakthrough Prize promises a transparent selection process. Anyone can nominate a candidate online for consideration and the $3 million prize - which Milner called "a good round number" - can be shared among any number of scientists and received more than once. There are no age restrictions for nominees, either.

Zuckerberg touted the fact that the recipients will remain involved in the selection process, so that the prizes are not the domain of only rich donors and backers.

"One of the fundamental differences is that the winners are going to pick the winners," he said, noting that fact should keep the focus of the prizes at the cutting edge of science.

Prize winners

The first 11 winners of the Life Sciences Breakthrough Prize and their fields of research: